Starmer had said toppling of statue was ‘completely wrong’. Black MP Dawn Butler corrects him
Black Labour MP Dawn Butler has bravely gone on the public record to contradict and correct the party’s leader for his weak stance on the destruction of a statue of slaver Edward Colston by ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters in Bristol.
Black MPs – including Dawn Butler – and Bristol’s mayor responded positively to the destruction of the ‘affront to humanity’, with some calling for the incident to be a catalyst for real change, but the Establishment has been trying to use the incident to discredit protesters – and Keir Starmer told radio listeners that the demonstrators were ‘completely wrong’.
But Ms Butler has bravely gone public to put Starmer right:
Ms Butler’s courage stands in stark contrast both to Starmer’s own timidity and to the weak actions of a number of Labour MPs over the weekend, who were clearly too eager to appear ‘mainstream’ to do the right thing.
The statue issue is not only about the historical shame of slavery, but about the core issue of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest – the value that society places on the lives of black people and those from other ethnic minority backgrounds.
Bravo Dawn Butler for showing what opposition and siding with the oppressed look like.
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Well said Dawn Butler.
There have been comments on SB giving Starmer a degree of support for his criticism of the protester’s actions. All sorts of red herrings have been thrown in to muddy the waters. The debate is about THIS statue and THIS action.
Colston’s statue was erected in 1895 by the ruling class at the time, when the average citizen had hardly two pence to rub together. It was a tribute to racism and should have been torn down years ago. It has taken direct action to remove this abomination.
Well done Dawn!
#Starmegeddon
Counter intuitively we should also praise the actions of the police in Bristol
Excellent call
Well I think butler’s wrong and is giving out the wrong impression.
…But I simply despise the easter island-headed, greasy sellout more than I think butler’s wrong.
It appears there had been an unsuccessful petition made by the local MP for the statue to be removed. I wasn’t previously aware of that.
I also note that something that was successful – And that was a local toerag councillor’s bid to remove mention of colston being a toerag MP on the accompanying plaque…The snivelling ratbastard, deliberately removing an uncomfortable and inconvenient home truth – which just demonstrates that toerags never have, and never will, change.
No wonder people ragged it down. They should’ve tied that councillor to it before they dropped it in the river, too.
Not the first time in recent months Skwawkbox has used the old tabloid trick of misleading headlines. Much as I despise Starmer, I despise shoddy journalism even more. Starmer did *not* say that removing the statue was “completely wrong”, he said removing it *in that way* was completely wrong. Your headline implies that Starmer wanted to keep the statue which is misleading and the kind of trick the Murodch rags would play. Furthermore, according to today’s polling by YouGov, while 53% of Britons support the removal of the statue, just 13% approve of the way it was done. Labour won’t get elected by endorsing lawlessness.
Dan, I think you’ll find it’s the link to the daily mirror article in the tweet butler made which shows that it wasn’t just Skwawkbox writing that starmer ‘called the activists completely wrong.’ Butler also asserts this is the case.
The rest of the daily mirror linked part of Butler’s tweet shows that starmer explains in a bit more detail why he thought it was wrong. I, too was critical (in the same way as starmer) of the ‘activists’ actions before I knew the full picture (See my earlier posts).
There is no misrepresentation or tabloid trickery going on here from the Skwawkbox.
I haven’t had anyone criticising me for it on here, but then again, I’m not the weakest, most pro-establishment, supposedly ‘labour party’ leader there’s been in living memory, am I?
Dan…if you new anything about politicians and “double speak” you would realise that the knight was endorsing Slavery of the old empire.This type of fence sitting is typically the establishment right wing agenda inside the Labour party.
Dan
I agree there could have been a squaring of circles by both SB and Keir
The answer is, they tried to legitimately get the statue taken down for years, this was direct action after democracy failed, the police called it correctly not the PM or Pritti horrible racist
It has now opened the door to tear down statues and replace them, old statues should be put in museums and the curriculum should teach us what really happened
Finally change language
We abhor violence by police and protestors, what is your position
IMo Starmers Party is racist dead simple , any news on any suspensions re the leaked report ……nahh thought not
I think statues to all slavers should be taken down as a matter of principle. These men made fortunes out of the disgusting slave trade – people were traded as commodities and used in the most appalling way by vile individuals such as Colston. That we should be honouring them is shameful and insulting to all those descended from the victims of their evil and greed.
Alex Hailey, author of Roots, researched his African heritage and traced it back to a small village in Kenya. He said that when he visited the village he became emotional when he saw that those living in the village were black while he was brown – living testimony to the rape of his female ancestors.
How anyone can justify the maintenance of statues to such people is beyond me and the fact that Colston used his ill-gotten gains to memorialise himself by charitable bequests means nothing – if he hadn’t engaged in truly evil behaviour he would not have the money to leave to charity.
I fully understand how people protesting about the murder of another African American would be enraged by the statue to Colston and take it down themselves but we cannot leave this issue to be dealt with solely by outraged local people. I think we should campaign for legislation to have all such statues taken down and destroyed and monuments erected to their victims in their place.
I’ve previously commented that I’d prefer a more tangible approach – restitution for slavery and the ongoing oppression rather than mere destruction of the symbols.
I’d hate to see public areas denuded of art but if it leads to the commissioning of new sculpture to replace them I’d be OK with that.
Statues are erected by the elites, for the elites.Amazing solidarity among the bourgeoisie in applauding acts of vandalism & violence, but only when it coincides with their own beliefs. All MSM desperate to signal their virtue.
The statues are a reminder that wealthy merchants & landowners have always owned & controlled the lives of the poor. Nothing much has changed; they are a symptom of elite class action. The one thing the bourgeoisie will not do is support the working class. The lives of the working classes, particularly since the industrial revolution, is never taught in schools. Poor people seldom grew old. Early death comparable with any form of slavery. You cannot see too much with your eyes closed & re-writing history. Remember, many private schools & universities were set up & funded by these elites.
Sadiq Khan & Mervin Rees want to change society by changing street names & removing statues. May I suggest that in the name of Equality of Opportunity & Black Lives Matter, an investigation into the corruption & the power of the ‘City of London’; Tax Havens & the corrupt relationship between these elite educational establishments, especially public schools & Oxbridge as an establishment pathway to ‘top jobs’. Removing statues & changing street names changes nothing, but then, that’s the whole idea. Nothing changes.